Woodrow Wilson Classical High School’s Olivia Mendoza is Long Beach Press-Telegram 2015 Dream Team Girls' Tennis Player of the Year in Long Beach, CA. Friday December 11, 2015.(Thomas R. Cordova-Daily Breeze/Press-Telegram)

Woodrow Wilson Classical High School’s Olivia Mendoza is Long Beach Press-Telegram 2015 Dream Team Girls' Tennis Player of the Year in Long Beach, CA. Friday December 11, 2015.(Thomas R. Cordova-Daily Breeze/Press-Telegram)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: OLIVIA MENDOZA, Long Beach Wilson, Senior

There had only been one person to win the Moore League girls tennis championship three years in a row, until now.

To cap her senior year, Olivia Mendoza won her third consecutive Moore League championship, becoming only the second person to do so.

“It got harder to win,” Mendoza said. “As I kept winning, the first year it wasn’t easy, but it was easier mentally than it was the third year because I didn’t have the pressure of winning it the year before. So, it definitely shows my mental stability in tennis.”

Originally from Portland, Oregon, Mendoza moved to California before her freshman year at Long Beach Wilson.

“Tennis wasn’t very big there,” Mendoza said of Oregon. “But when I got here I just continued to play.”

Mendoza used a relentless style of play to tire out her opponents all the way through the Moore League finals, defeating two Poly opponents to take the title. She was able to sustain her play even through long rallies.

“I was able to stay calm even though I had a lot of pressure on me,” Mendoza said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that helped me win it.”

Poly coach Keri McBride has seen a lot of growth from Mendoza since her freshman year, which has helped her develop into the player she is.

“I think the biggest growth that I’ve seen not just her stroke,” McBride said. “It’s her ability to know what stroke to use at the right time.”

Along with her stroke, McBride praised Mendoza’s ability to stay calm at all times.

“She’s been consistently mentally very tough,” McBride said. “She just fights and fights and fights. She just doesn’t give up.”

Along with the pressure of winning three consecutive titles, Mendoza has been battling an eye condition that has left her legally blind in her left eye. The condition is known as refractive amblyopia. Due to this condition, Mendoza wears a corrective contact lens to help with her depth perception.

“I think that the condition helped me overcome my doubts,” Mendoza said. “It gives me a different style of playing and makes me work 10 times harder.”

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